New Abuse Charges Filed Against Dentist

Dozens of additional felony child abuse charges were filed this week against a Pasadena dentist who is now accused of over-sedating 39 children during routine dental procedures, according to court documents.

Dr. Drueciel Ford, who is free on $380,000 bail, faces 45 felony and 19 misdemeanor counts related to alleged misuse of chloral hydrate, a syrup administered orally to calm children during dental procedures such as filling cavities. She “absolutely denies” the charges, said her attorney, Robert H. McNeill.

Besides child abuse, the charges include dissuading witnesses from reporting a crime, falsifying evidence and unprofessional conduct. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 1.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Albert H. MacKenzie said that “after we filed the original case . . . we received calls from more than 100 parents.” A subsequent investigation led to new counts.

Ford, 49, whose dental license has been suspended, could not be reached for comment.

“She’s spending time with her family and trying to hold her life together,” her attorney said. Ford has at least three adopted children.

She has practiced dentistry for 27 years, and hundreds of people, including former patients, peers and members of her church have rallied in support, McNeill said.

“The vast majority of those charges were illegally brought,” he said. At worst, she should have faced misdemeanor counts under the code that governs businesses and professions, he said.

Records show that the county deputy district attorney in charge of medical cases did not find felony charges were merited in a case involving a 15-year-old who went into cardiac arrest not long after receiving the syrup. But subsequent investigations revealed a pattern of abuse that justifies the charges, MacKenzie said.

According to prosecutors, Melissa Marie McGrath went into cardiac arrest and suffered brain damage hours after swallowing two large doses of the syrup in March 1999. MacKenzie has said Ford failed to monitor the patient, delayed calling 911, then lied to emergency workers about the teenager’s medical condition.

An expert hired by prosecutors concluded that McGrath may have been given a lethal amount of the sedative, six to 12 times the standard dose, which Ford has denied.

Ford’s case is one of a small, steady stream nationally in which children reportedly have been harmed through alleged misuse of chloral hydrate.